With summer officially here, who doesn’t need a few mom related life-hacks to make the days a little easier? The kids are home, and the days are longer. No matter whether you work out of the home, in the home, or as a stay at home mom, we can all use some fun products and services to make the days just a little more manageable. Below are my current top three mom life hacks.
My Splurge: Blue Apron. A few months back when I first came across Blue Apron, I thought to myself, “Food delivery service? That is for “fancy” people.” And by “fancy,” I mean rich. Blue Apron creates a weekly menu, portions out all of the ingredients to make the meals, sends recipe cards, and it all comes to you in a refrigerated box. Curiosity got the best of me and I started pricing out the service against my own grocery bills. The reality was that I was spending more time and money buying random and large amounts of ingredients and hoping dinner would leap out of my pantry, than I would spend with Blue Apron. Other pros, besides the obvious of eliminating the dreaded question “What is for dinner?”, are that the meals are well portioned. You get to choose your day for delivery. You get to try recipies and ingredients you might not normally gravitate towards. Most recipies take around 30 minutes to cook. The food is fresh. Aside from chopping the food and cooking it, all of the planning work is done for you! The only two cons that I have run into are that every once in a while you might get a bum piece of produce. Also, because of packaging for shipping, there is sometimes product waste (such as ice packs and the larger box). It wears on my environmental conscience for a minute. Until I remember the sound pollution I saved all of those innocent bystanders at the grocery store by not dragging my kids through the aisles in a 45 minute search of epazote.
Blue Apron is $59.94 per week for three meals which serve two people. There are two options for family plans: 2 meals for $69.92 or 4 meals for $139.84 per week. You can skip a delivery (with notice) at any time. We have had many delicious meals via Blue Apron. Tasty food that I don’t need to put a lot of thought into? Count me in.
My Steal: Chatbooks. Over the holiday season I was attending a party where the hostess had a side table filled with fun compact books that contained all of her Instagram photos. Enter Chatbooks. Chatbooks takes the photos from your IG feed, puts them into a 60 page album, and sends the album to you for $6 (including shipping for some books!). It really is that simple. I always have a bit of mom-guilt regarding the photos I don’t get around to printing out. With Chatbooks, they take the dreaded feeling of sitting at a computer for hours to choose photos for an album, and instead make it a fun and quick process that can be done from your phone. You also have the option to use your phone album if you do not have an IG account. These books are great coffee table books, and my kids absolutely love flipping through them. They are also fantastic for sending to not-so-tech-savvy family members (cough cough, grandparents, cough cough). Such a wonderful way to revisit and share memories, without breaking the bank to do it.
My Freebie: The Skimm. Do you Skimm? If not, you should. Most mornings I try to sneak in a few minutes of iPhone browsing before my littles are up and moving. I do my best to stay connected with world events, but thumbing through the USA Today App with one eye open wasn’t cutting it. I discovered The Skimm about a year ago, and absolutely love it! They take the daily news and make it into a clever read that breaks down current events, and leaves you with what you need to know. All that you have to do is subscribe and check your email in the mornings. Voilà. You are now connected, and have a slightly educated start to your day. #smartypants
What life hacks are helping you out lately? What are some tips or services that make your days a little easier? Anyone finally discover that robot that folds laundry while simultaneously getting your kids to brush their teeth? No? Share your helpful hacks in the comments below!
Sunfare. My friend gifted me a month subscription when my little one first arrived and I was too overwhelmed to meal plan. Unlike the programs that deliver produce for cooking Sunfare comes already cooked in clear containers, with easy reheating instructions, most takes about ten minutes total. We chose to continue the plan after the month since it’s so convenience and delicious. There are many options to choose from, such as weight loss or family dinner and they deliver every day if desired. We get it on Friday night. We chose dinner for three, so hubby and I can have a nice dinner with lots of leftover for Saturday lunch and even dinner sometimes. There are hundreds of options to choose from and you can mix and match any main dish and sides. It’s about $60 a week and worth the money! Bonus is the containers are reusable!
The only downside that I will mention is that the containers are not designed for heating so we end up using three or four oven/microwave containers, but usually clean up is very easy!
Comments are closed.